The ‘other’ Transylvanian count

Abstract

Abstract This article discusses the contemporary Hungarian and Anglophone reception of a trilogy of recently ‘rediscovered’ novels chronicling the demise of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Written by the Transylvanian author and statesman Miklós Bánffy (1873–1950), the trilogy was originally published in 1934–1940, was suppressed during the Communist period and was published in English translation only in 1999 after years of work by Bánffy’s daughter, Katalin Bánffy-Jelen, and her co-translator, Patrick Thursfield. Through an analysis of auto- and heteroimages, we explore how reviewers in the source and target cultures dealt with imagologically relevant items. The analysis shows that reviews in Hungarian-language Transylvanian newspapers focused on situating Bánffy and his work in the Hungarian canon and emphasized Bánffy’s regional role, whereas Anglophone reviewers used Bánffy’s life to frame a pan-European discourse, drawing comparisons to Anglophone and international writers. We also discuss a heteroimage that emerged despite playing no role in the story itself: vampires.